The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device that is applicable to a monitor of an electronic still camera or the like.
Recently, electronic still cameras have become popular. In the electronic still camera, an object is photographed by photographing elements and recorded on a recording medium, such as a magnetic disk. An output from the photographing elements or regenerated signal from the recording medium is displayed on a liquid crystal display of the electronic still camera. A user can monitor the object image through the liquid crystal display.
In conventional electronic still cameras, when a monitoring through a liquid crystal display is instructed, the liquid crystal display is thereafter held in a driven state, regardless of whether it is monitored or not, unless the instruction is released. Since a liquid crystal display does not emit light by itself, light is usually irradiated from a lamp, such as a fluorescent tube. As a result, there is a drawback in that the lamp is turned ON even if the object image on the liquid crystal display is not being monitored. Thus, the life of the fluorescent tube is shortened and a battery is consumed more than necessary.